Tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to escalate, with North Korea warning of a "brutal military blow" should the joint U.S.-South Korea naval exercises launched on Sunday breach its territorial waters. American lawmakers, meanwhile, are calling on China to bring an end to the standoff by reining in its increasingly belligerent neighbor. China is calling for emergency talks. But could it be doing more? (Watch The Week's Sunday Talk Show Briefing about the Korean conflict)
Beijing has limited options, too: China has its own "tricky balancing act" here, says Chris Buckley in Reuters. It wants to maintain South Korea as a trading partner without "estranging" North Korea, "a long-time ally Beijing sees as a buffer against [the] U.S." That requires "diplomatic whispering, not shouting." If China pushes its "prickly partner" too hard, it might lose whatever moderating influence it has over Kim Jong Il.
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